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Motive Technologies Cleared in Patent Infringement Case
Jury Says Trucking Technology Company Did Not Violate Omnitracs Patents; Separate Samsara Case Still Active
A federal jury in San Francisco has handed down a unanimous verdict clearing Motive Technologies Inc. of allegations it copied patents owned by technology developer Omnitracs.
The jury’s April 24 verdict came after a 10-day trial centered on a sweeping and complex lawsuit filed on Oct. 13, 2023, by Omnitracs. Omnitracs technology partners XRS Corp. and SmartDrive Systems were also named as plaintiffs. Motive countersued on Dec. 6, 2023, asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
The case was heard by Judge Rita Lin in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Lin instructed the jury to determine if eight Motive products and services infringed on one or more of the Omnitracs patents at the center of the lawsuit.
RELATED: Omnitracs Sues Motive Technologies for Patent Infringement
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Omnitracs in the suit said that over three decades, it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in fleet and safety technology that was being compromised. “Rather than design and develop its own services and technologies to provide legitimate competition to plaintiffs, Motive has taken shortcuts and used the innovative technologies designed, developed and patented by plaintiffs,” Omnitracs claimed.
In its countersuit, Motive said, “There are no viable mechanisms for plaintiffs to cure the latent defects in their allegations. Plaintiffs’ infringement allegations using the XRS patents fail as a matter of law because the accused product cannot meet the XRS patent claims.”
The jury concluded that Motive presented “clear and convincing evidence” that its products did not infringe on Omnitracs patents.
“Yesterday’s verdict reinforces what Motive’s customers already know — Motive’s success is driven by the strength of its technology, including industry-leading AI and the breadth of its Integrated Operations Platform,” Motive said in an April 25 statement. Motive Chief Legal Officer Shu White added, “Omnitracs chose to wrongfully accuse us of patent infringement, instead of investing their time to build better and more innovative products to serve their customers.
Omnitracs, a subsidiary of Solera since 2021, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.
Meantime, Motive remains embroiled in a separate patent infringement case. Technology developer Samsara in January 2024 filed a lawsuit in civil court alleging that Motive has for years covertly stolen its technology patents and adopted them as its own.
“Samsara brings this action against Motive to put an end to Motive’s pervasive copying and use of Samsara’s proprietary technology, its false and misleading advertisements, and its unauthorized and fraudulent access to Samsara’s computers and networks,” the company said in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Delaware.
Samsara alleges three counts of telematics patent infringement, fraud, computer fraud and false advertising. It seeks punitive damages and other relief. It alleges that Motive’s business plan has been “simple, predictable and endorsed by its senior management team.”
Motive has countersued. The case has not yet been scheduled for trial.
